Azimuth — Kenny Larkin
Detroit techno’s second wave on Warp: Kenny Larkin’s 1994 debut album Azimuth, its title track and eleven-song run, and the reissues on Rush Hour and Art of Dance.
- Debut album by Detroit producer Kenny Larkin, released by Warp on 28 February 1994.
- Eleven tracks, all produced, composed and performed by Larkin, licensed from his own label Art of Dance.
- Partly reissued by Rush Hour in 2006, then remastered by Art of Dance in 2021.
This archive entry once pointed to a Kenny Larkin track called “For You”. No release under that title appears in his documented discography, so this story covers the record that opened his album career instead: Azimuth, released by Warp in 1994. It is the work of a producer from Detroit techno’s second generation, with a title track and ten companions recorded at his own Art of Dance.
A late start in Detroit
Kenny Larkin was born in Detroit on 6 April 1968. He missed the first years of Detroit techno because he was serving in the military, and came to the music through Juan Atkins, Derrick May and the Chicago house scene. Discogs places him in the music’s second wave, alongside Jeff Mills and Carl Craig. His first records came out on Plus 8: “We Shall Overcome” in 1990, with “Rubbernotes” on the flip, then “Integration” in 1991, backed with “Colony”, “Metropolis” and “Colonize”. In 1992 his Dark Comedy alias appeared on Transmat with the Corbomite Maneuver EP.
The album
Warp released Azimuth on 28 February 1994 as a double LP (WARP LP20), with CD and cassette versions. The credits list Larkin as producer, composer and performer, and note that the album was recorded at, and licensed from, Art of Dance, his own label. The eleven tracks run: “Hello”, “Azimuth”, “Track”, “ESP”, “Funk in Space”, “Harmonics”, “Tedra”, “Doppler”, “Wires”, “Q” and “My Travels”. In the US it came out on Wax Trax!/TVT the same year, and a Japanese edition followed in 1995.
Warp was then running its Artificial Intelligence series. The second compilation, Artificial Intelligence II (1994), came with a limited 12-inch that included Larkin’s “Maritime”.
After Azimuth
Larkin moved to R&S for the “Catatonic” 12-inch (1994) and the album Metaphor (1995), whose “Loop 2” was remixed by Alex Reece and Luke Slater in 1996. That “Loop 2” single was backed with “Life Goes On”. As Dark Comedy he released the album Seven Days (1997) and, on Poussez!, Funkfaker: Music Saves My Soul (2004); he also used the names Yennek and Pod. Under his own name came The Narcissist (2004) on Peacefrog and Keys, Strings, Tambourines (2008) on Carl Craig’s Planet E, preceded by the single “You Are…”. AllMusic calls him “massively influential”.
Reissues
In 2006 Rush Hour pressed an Azimuth EP with “Azimuth”, “Q”, “Tedra” and “Track”, part of a six-record series highlighting his career so far, later gathered on the compilation The Chronicles (2008). In 2021 Art of Dance reissued the full album, remastered, on vinyl and digital.
For more Detroit, dig into Moodymann and the city’s first-wave dance hit “Big Fun” by Inner City.
FAQ
When was Kenny Larkin’s Azimuth released?
On 28 February 1994, by Warp Records in the UK (WARP LP20). Wax Trax!/TVT released it in the US the same year.
Is there a Kenny Larkin track called For You?
No release titled “For You” appears in Kenny Larkin’s documented discography, under his own name or his aliases. This story covers his debut album, Azimuth, instead.
Who is Kenny Larkin?
A Detroit techno producer and DJ, born in Detroit on 6 April 1968. He also records as Dark Comedy and runs the label Art of Dance.
Has Azimuth been reissued?
Yes. Rush Hour released an Azimuth EP in 2006 and the compilation The Chronicles in 2008; Art of Dance issued a remastered reissue in 2021.
